20/06/2014 BBC Wales Today

They were murdered on their honeymoon in Antigua.

Tonight one of the men responsible is shot and

Four men died at the Gleision mine after gallons

Now their families seek compensation from the pit owners.

Labour's Shadow Cabinet decamps to Wales.

On this programme their leader Ed Miliband defends all-women

I think Labour has to do better in Wales. I understand local feelings

about this but I think it is the right thing to do to improve our

The classmates helping eight-year-old Hollie find

a bone marrow donor, with a little help from their pants.

Wales say they're out to restore some pride, the latest from camp

as they prepare for the final Test against South Africa.

One of the men jailed for the murder of a Swansea couple

during their honeymoon in Antigua has been recaptured

According to the police there, Avie Howell was shot

in what?s been described as a confrontation with officers.

In 2008, he shot Ben and Catherine Mullany from Pontardawe

Back in custody, armed and extremely dangerous is how Avie Howell was

ascribed following his escape. He is already serving three life sentences

and is due to stand trial again for two more murders. His escape scar --

sparked a major manhunt involving the police. The circumstances of the

recapture are still sketchy. It is understood to have occurred not far

from this police station. There was a confrontation with officers, in

which he was wounded. He has been recaptured by the authorities.

During that incident, he was shot by police. That was following a

confrontation. Were any of your officers injured in the

confrontation? Fortunately, no. Avie Howell was serving his jail term in

the maximum security wing of Antigua is only present, which is close to

the downtown area of the capital. He got out with another inmate after

cutting through cell bars. On Antigua, questions are now being

asked about the quality of security. The island is talking about there

being a problem. There has been a big problem in Antigua over the last

few years. It is to do with finance. Not enough money has been spent at

the prison, possibly. But could be one of the reasons. There are a lot

of questions and answered. In 2011, Avie Howell and his accomplice were

convicted of the murder of Ben and Catherine Mullaney, as well as a

local woman they were told they would serve three life sentences.

The Swansea couple were nearing the end of their honeymoon in a hotel on

one of the most beautiful reaches in Antigua when they were shot during a

robbery. Given the trial, prosecutors said the couple had been

killed without thought, executed at the start of their married life

together. Tonight in Antigua, Avie Howell is under guard in hospital,

receiving treatment for wombs. He will be returned to the present. A

The families of the four men who died in the Gleision mining tragedy

have confirmed they are to sue the pits owners.

Yesterday both MNS Mining Ltd, and the mine's manager

Malcolm Fyfield were cleared of manslaughter charges.

But the local MP Peter Hain said today the trial had failed to answer

the one question the families needed to know - why the men were working

Garry Jenkins, Phillip Hill, David Powell and Charles Breslin.

All four men drowned after being engulfed in a torrent of

They'd been working towards an abandoned part of the site,

attempting to blast through the old workings to improve ventilation.

The pit's manager, Malcolm Fyfield, was with them

Yesterday he, along with the mine's owner, were cleared of manslaughter.

These images show the force of the flood.

Mr Fyfield said he had carried out inspections to make sure they

weren't blasting into an area filled with water,

but today the local MP said he was no clearer to understanding what

The unanswered puzzle about this, why were these men working towards

old mine workings for of water? I saw a map showing the entrance to

the mine which clearly showed that they were driving in towards an area

marked on the map as old mine workings, water.

Mr Hain has written to the health and safety executive

urging them to publish a report into what was known about

Yesterday the families stood outside court as police read a statement

on their behalf, today their lawyer confirmed they will sue the pit's

A statement read, this trial reignites the call

Getting a criminal conviction is very difficult because you have to

prove that a manager's actions amounted to gross negligence -

In civil cases, though the burden of proof is much lower.

Civil actions are different. They are about compensating the victims.

But in order for a civil action to be successful, you do not have to

show and I am talking generally, that a company or an employer fell

way below what the duty of care was. They simply have to show that the

The health and safety executive say their evidence has been heard as

part of the court cas, but they will now consider Mr Hain's comments.

A man who murdered an amateur boxer, stabbing him 52 times

in the toilet of a Wrexham pub, has been jailed for at least 23 years.

34-year-old Craig Maddocks was killed by Francesco Prevete

at the Cambrian Vaults Pub in the town last June.

The judge said the attack had been "brutal and ferocious".

Four men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder

Police were called to a garage in the city this morning.

The 39-year-old man has life-threatening injuries

and is being treated at the Royal Gwent Hospital.

Ed Miliband says his party can learn from the Welsh

government and has backed its handling of public services.

He brought his shadow cabinet to meet Carwyn

Jones's Welsh government cabinet in Nantgarw near Caerphilly today.

We'll hear from Mr Miliband a little later, but first, here's Daniel

Davies on a day when both Labour leaders were shoulder to shoulder.

You are doing a brilliant job. Some mutual reassurance. Both these men

have had their difficulties. Opinion polls suggest Ed Miliband still has

to overcome voters scepticism. Meanwhile, opponents say Carwyn

Jones is failing on health and education. What can they teach each

other? Ed Miliband 's shadow cabinet and the Welsh cabinet sat down to

find out. Ed Miliband says he is here to learn. 10,000 young people

helped into work by the Welsh Government, 10,000 reasons to

believe in politics, according to Ed Miliband. He likes the Welsh

Government economic Wallasey is but what about public services? Week

after week, he has to put up with this? There is a truly dreadful

record when it comes to the NHS record in Wales. How does the First

Minister feel when his record is trashed in Westminster? As we said,

one of the things they have to do is to make sure that there are strong

arguments thrown back at the Conservatives. On Cancer, waiting

times are far lower than they are in England. And making sure that it is

in Dutch understood that there are challenges within the NHS. Carwyn

Jones is Ed Miliband is the right man to win the election for Labour.

Can they convince the rest of us. --?

Earlier, I spoke to Ed Miliband, and started

by asking him how he can praise the performance of the Welsh Government,

when there are big questions about its record on health and education.

What we were doing today with our shadow cabinet meeting the Welsh

Government and Carwyn Jones is focusing on the 10,000 young people

who have got jobs as a result of jobs growth Wales, that is a

programme to get young people back into work. We do not have it in a

men. It is one area where we need to learn from the Welsh Government

about what we can do. There are challenges in public services, just

like there are ringing them but I am proud of what Carwyn Jones and the

Welsh Labour government is doing. What about the problems with health?

David Cameron is always raising the problems. I tell you what is

interesting about it. He does not want to talk about what is happening

in England. He says that it is a line between life and death. And I

think that is a pretty offensive thing to say. If you look at some

areas, the Welsh NHS is doing better, like on treatment for

cancer, the speed of treatment. There are some areas where it faces

bigger challenges. All the experts have said, the Nuffield Trust, no

one health system is doing better than any other across the UK. Yes,

there are challenges. Carwyn Jones is aware of those and wants Wales to

rise to those challenges. I do not think that David Cameron should be

using the Welsh NHS as apolitical foot wall. He should be doing

something about the NHS in England. We are sympathetic to the issues. It

is something we are talking to Carwyn Jones about. We would devolve

greater powers over taxation, subject to a referendum. We would

also emulate the constitutional settlement in Scotland, the

so-called reserve model, to make it easier for the Welsh assembly to do

its business. I think devolution has been a success. I think we get the

strength of the United Kingdom by being in the United Kingdom, Wales

play a huge part in that, as well as the devolved government at the Welsh

assembly is doing. Would you increase the number of Assembly

Members got a mark we are not proposing that. We will look at all

of the concert issues. That is something we are looking at. I think

what is important about this is that you get the benefits of devolution

and we are seeing those benefits of devolution and after all, the vote

for devolution originally in Wales was a very narrow vote. In the

second referendum, there was a better margin. I think that shows

that evolution is working and can succeed for Wales. Let's talk about

all women short lists. I think this is an important issue and I

understand the feelings that there are from local people but I am in

favour of all women short lists. It is a decision of the National

executive committee. Less than a quarter of our MPs in Wales are

women. I think we need to do a lot better than that. One of the areas

where Carwyn Jones' government has done well is in relation to women's

representation. Labour has to do better in Wales. I understand the

local feelings but I feel it is the right thing to do to improve

Welsh sporting stars are leading the way in encouraging people to

put pants on their heads - in the name of an 8 year old girl

Hollie Clark, from Cardiff, has been diagnosed with

a condition that's rare in children - and her family are hoping

the campaign will encourage people to sign up to the donor register,

Shall we maybe spend a day with our pants on our heads? Who would like

to do that? And what child would not? At a school in Cardiff, Acra

threes classmates are keen to do their bit and so too are sports

stars. In just a few days, names like Sam Warburton, Jonathan

Davies... Have all put pants on their head and posted self fees on

Twitter and Facebook. Hollie 's parents say they are truly grateful

and they hope the campaign will encourage more people to become

donors. At the moment, we are looking for a match, we desperately

need a match and the only people that can help us are the public.

That is why we have set up this campaign. We have got everybody's

attention with the website. We are reaching out to the public to

register and to become donors. Hollie is one of 1800 people across

the UK who currently need a bone marrow transplant that 70% of people

who receive one get the bone marrow from a stranger. Hollie must also

look to the general public. No one in her family can provide bone

marrow that matches hers. This woman works for a charity which runs a

register of donors and facilitates 1000 transplants a year. She told me

the first step is to sign up online to receive a kit. All we ask you to

do is take the tube out, spitting the two, but the fluid in,

do is take the tube out, spitting involves several injections the week

prior to donation. You then overstimulate yourselves: They flew

into the bloodstream. Still ahead tonight -

it'll be the world's biggest telescope, with a helping hand

from a North Wales university. And their banner at the first test

made headlines around the world, the boys from Bedwas ready to unveil a

new banner, hoping Wales can cause You probably know that greenhouse

gasses, like carbon dioxide, are heating our planet -

leading to global warming. But those harmful emissions are also

having a very real impact Scientists at Swansea University

have been monitoring the rising levels of acid in our seas -

and how that's killing off some Carwyn Jones has been

finding out more. The research vessel Noctiluca sets

sail, heading for the open waters On board, a team of marine

biologists from the University's They're working on

a ?12 million project to find out how greenhouse gases, pumped

into our atmosphere, are affecting 80 million tones of carbon dioxide

is released into our sphere every day. We all know the effect that is

happening on rising sea levels but it is also having an impact on life

beneath the waves. Our seas are becoming more acidic.

Scientists are using special nets to trawl for zooplankton -

they're the tiny animals found near the surface of our seas.

Although they only measure around one millimetre in length,

Without them, many species of fish and mammals

These tiny creatures which look a bit like water fleas provide vital

food for many of our fish species. This is why we are research on the

effects of climate change on this particular species.

After three hours at sea, it's back to labs to study the findings.

This research project is the first of its kind to focus

on the complete lifecycle of zooplankton, from eggs to adults.

These microscopic organisms are the foundation of

This then leads to less adults and therefore less eggs and so on. The

population growth is much slower than it would have been. It could be

really quite profound because without these animals, the fish have

less food. These microscopic organisms are the foundation of the

But as our seas become more acidic, scientists now believe that

in the future, some species simply won't be able to survive.

And that has huge implications for the health and productivity

It will be able to glimpse the furthest corner of the universe

and offer views 15 times clearer than the Hubble Telescope.

And the most vital part of the European Extra Large

Telescope could be provided by scientists at Glyndwr University.

It will be built on a mountain in Chile, but the type of mirrors

which allow it to see so far, are being developed in St Asaph.

This is ground-breaking in more ways than one.

Explosive charges are laid at the peak of this mountain in Chile's

This is where the European Extremely Large Telescope will sit once

Well, its lens will be a mirror that's Half the size

Made up of a thousand pieces of glass which have been finely

polished at Glyndwr University's St Asaph laboratory, first by computer,

The first one took the best part of five years. The second one has taken

us about eight months. We are hoping the third one will take about three

months. But we still need to get down to less than one per week. The

polishing process is becoming more refined each time we do it.

It's been a painstaking development process.

The time consuming work on the prototypes should put

the team in a good position to make the real thing once the telescope

This is a massive, one billion Euro programme involving many countries.

But the intensive work that's been developed here

in North Wales could eventually bring our entire universe into

Why do they want to do that? It is because the important question like

where calyxes come from and what precisely happened physically during

that era where the University went through one face to another -- era

On reflection These panes of glass may not seem very high tech

now, but in a few years time they'll be our windows onto other worlds.

South Africa may be firm favourites for the final Test tomorrow

but Wales say preparations have gone well

After the disappointment of the defeat in Durban,

Wales are determined to finish the season on a high and restore pride.

From Nelspruit, here's our rugby correspondent, Gareth Charles.

Being the gateway to the Kruger National Park reserve, this is big

in country and this is a really big game for Wales. Having run the

Springboks close in recent years, the magnitude of defeat in the first

test really hurt. With the World Cup on the horizon, does this represent

a crossroads? I am not sure about a crossroads. It is another game, an

important game, in showing Welsh supporters that we are a better team

than we showed last week. That is the challenge for all of us. We have

tended to get better in terms of points on the board. We need to

become more competitive in all areas and we need to be clinical. Everyone

is disappointed with last Saturday. We were not good enough to win the

game. I think we have conceded some soft tries. The boys have trained

well this week and we have a chance to go out for the last king of the

season and throw everything we can add them. -- last game of the

season. At 37 years of age and after taking a two-year break, Victor

Matfield will become the most capped Springbok ever. It is a great

milestone for me. But it is all about the team. They had a great

game last week. We have to go out there and put out a better

performance. We have worked hard. The focus is there. Hopefully we can

go out and play another great game. The Springboks have already -- only

once played a test here, a comfortable win over Scotland last

year. There is no great local history to draw on but 50 years of

playing and winning all over this vast country suggests that while

Wales can expect an improvement, returning home with a first-ever win

And watching the match tomorrow will be a group of fans from Bedwas.

You may remember they made headlines around the world -

this banner they made, got re-tweeted more than 40,000 times.

Much to their frustration it got called the best banner

We caught up with them relaxing in South Africa today, where

in between dips in the pool they've made another banner which they'll

Cricket and Glamorgan's T20 Blast match against Surrey is underway.

The visitors? side includes former England batsman Kevin Pietersen

Plenty of sunshine across Wales. I think it is safe to say that all of

us have seen at least some blue skies and it has been warm as well.

Let's have a look at the maximum temperatures. 23 in Cardiff. The

North Wales coast and the where Wales coast, just a little bit

cooler thanks to a northerly breeze. Good news, high-pressure still in

charge. Feeling warm tonight and drive across the country. We are not

expecting any showers. The odd spot of drizzle possibly across parts of

south Wales. Looking at the map, blue skies before it gets dark. Most

of us enjoying sunny spells. Then clear skies across much of the

country. North Wales cloud in over for a time. It will feel quite warm

in Cardiff and Newport tonight. Tomorrow morning, this is how it

will lock. Plenty of sunshine. Some sunny spells. A little cloudy across

parts of North Wales. Anglesey a little grey first thing. Further

south, you can see plenty of sunshine first thing. Pembrokeshire,

quite a nice morning. It will remain pleasant enough across the country

tomorrow. We will all see some sunshine once again. A little

cloudier than today. Plenty of sunny spells. Temperatures reaching 21

Celsius. Don't forget, UV levels are quite high, as our pollen levels.

Tomorrow, clouding over for a time. Temperatures tomorrow night not to

disappointing. High-pressure, as I said, very much in charge of the

weather. It is settled, it is keeping weather fronts away. If we

look at the outlook, not disappointing at all. Temperatures

in the 20s. Plenty of sunshine. Plenty of sunshine across Wales. I

think it is safe to say that all of us have seen at least some blue

skies and it has been warm as well. Let's have a look at the maximum

temperatures. 23 in Cardiff. The North Wales coast and the where

Wales coast, just a little bit cooler thanks to a northerly breeze.

Good news, high-pressure still in charge. Feeling warm tonight and

drive across the country. We are not expecting any showers. The odd spot

of drizzle possibly across parts of south Wales. Looking at the map,

blue skies before it gets dark. Most of us enjoying sunny spells. Then

clear skies across much of the country. North Wales cloud in over

for a time. It will feel quite warm in Cardiff and Newport tonight.

Tomorrow morning, this is how it will lock. Plenty of sunshine. Some

sunny spells. A little cloudy across parts of North Wales. Anglesey a

little grey first thing. Further south, you can see plenty of

sunshine first thing. Pembrokeshire, quite a nice morning. It will remain

pleasant enough across the country